Alone Together
by MarikaFromCincy
Summary: Rey offers Kylo Ren a choice and a chance after Snoke's death. It does not go as she planned but she isn't giving up hope that he could join her in the light. Canon divergence during The Last Jedi.
1. Chapter 1

"Ben!"

Their movements were so fluid, so connected that the guard was dead seconds later.

Rey felt a great pleasure and excitement from the brutality of the kill. Then she realized it wasn't her feeling. Kylo dropped the guard's body off his shoulders and it slumped to the ground with the rest. Kylo was pleased but barely showed it as he stood, staring at the burning corpse of his supreme leader.

The rage, the happiness, the fury, the relief, the possibilities, it seemed to fill the air and overtake the room. Rey felt an overwhelming need to be back on the Falcon.

"The fleet!" she blurted as she remembered and run toward the screen. "Order them to stop firing. There is still time to save the fleet." She peered back at Kylo. He was still staring at the two halves of Snoke.

He dropped his head. "I can't do that, Rey."

Rey huffed in disappointment. "Why not?" she demanded as she walked toward him.

"I don't want to join your miniscule resistance," Kylo turned and hissed down at her. She took a step back and peered at him with a sinking disappointment he did not expect. "We can rule together and bring a new order to the galaxy. Join me."

He watched her tense and saw her fingers about to reach for something.

"No," she answered carefully with a deep breath.

"No?" he replied in disgust. He felt for his saber and found it.

"This isn't what you want," Rey declared desperately. "It can't be. I felt you. I saw you. You turn."

"Ah, but you forget," he brought his lightsaber to him and held it at his side. Rey did the same and held hers in front of her. "You turn. If you don't do so willingly I can always make you."

Rey tried to mask her disappointment, but a tear escaped her eye. "Don't do this. Don't let this be your choice."

They had reached a standstill, locked in a buzzing connection of strong feelings of admiration, hatred, and longing.

"You still blame me for Han Solo's death. You have to let the past die or you will never learn anything," he told her.

Rey thought for a moment, equally feeling the conflict inside both of them. "Maybe. But we could save the fleet right now. Nothing about the past."

Rey saw something in his eyes and felt a spark of hope.

"Guards!" General Hux yelled as he saw them. He lifted his blaster and fired.

Rey and Kylo's sabers meet in front of Rey, blocking the blast. Rey exhaled nervously. Kylo peered at her, seemingly confused by his own actions.

"Ren, what is the meaning of this?" Hux demanded, still pointing his blaster at them.

Rey reached out and knocked it out of his hand. He shook with nerves as he looked at his empty hand and fumbled with something on his belt.

"There is no use, Hux," Kylo spat as he walked toward him. Hux grunted and struggled for breath as he fell to his knees and clenched his throat. "You will bow before us," he foretold as he dragged him toward them on his knees. "All of it will fall before us. Snoke, Skywalker, the Sith, the Jedi, the Resistance, the First Order. All of it!"

"Ben!" Rey yelled in panic to stop him. She felt a tremor under her feet and before she could react she was thrown to the ground by what sounded like an explosion.


	2. Chapter 2

Rey muttered as she slowly regained consciousness. Why was there piercing pain shooting through her arm? Why was there blood on her face? Why did everything smell like ash? And why did it feel like she was floating?

"Don't worry. You're save now."

Rey yelped at the voice and jolted away. She panicked. She was falling. She braced for hitting the ground, but she stopped for a moment just before. She exhaled nervous, wiped at her eye and looked up at the voice.

"I'm sorry," Kylo Ren said guiltily with his hand outstretched toward her. He gentled set her on the ground and then held his arms unsurely at his sides.

Rey shook her head and peered at him confused as she pulled herself off the ground. "Were you carrying me?"

"You were unconsciousness," he answered.

"Don't do that again."

He seemed confused by her anger and disapproval.

"You carried me like that when you kidnapped me," she angrily explained to him.

"You were unconscious then too."

"Yes, but you weren't. So, I've seen it and I felt it. And I don't want you reminding me of that."

Kylo lowered his head and nodded.

Rey sighed and rubbed at the dried blood on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. Thank you for getting me out of there. How did you do it?"

"I awoke first," he informed her simply.

Rey smiled and almost laughed.

"I knew the location of Snoke's transport craft," he said motioning to their surroundings.

It was the first time Rey even took note of it. It didn't surprise her. It looked like every other First Order ship she had been on. It was too sleek, too glossy, and too dark, almost like its goal was intimidation not efficiency. She walked toward the cockpit and peered out into space. Everything looked calm and still and empty.

"Wait," Rey exclaimed softly as she peered down at the navigation system. "Where are we headed?" she questioned as she turned to face Kylo.

He had moved closer but was still standing there with his hands behind his back. "Verdanth," he answered.

"Verdanth? We can't go to Verdanth. We need to meet the rebel fleet and stop the transports from being attacked," Rey told him again.

Kylo grew livid for a moment. Rey could feel the anger rising inside him.

"We can't go the rebel fleet. We are already running out of fuel," he informed her calmly.

Rey glanced down at the controls. She could easily hale the Falcon and following the homing beacon back to the fleet. She just didn't know what to do about Chewy. She couldn't physically stop him and wasn't entirely sure she wanted to. That rage was still boiling inside her. Kylo Ren had killed Han Solo. He had kidnapped and tortured her. He had murdered thousands of people throughout the galaxy. Under the right circumstances, with the right convincing, she might just kill him herself.

Rey moved away from the controls, quickly heading out of the cockpit.

"Where are you going?" Kylo asked with a hint of anger.

"Away from here, away from you," she informed him.

He reached out, ready to hold her back. But she was faster, and his feet slide back on the transport's floor until his back hit the pilot's chair.

Rey was seated on the bed in one of the sleeping cabins. Her feet were planted firmly on the ground and her wrists were resting on her knees. She stared at the homing beacon in her hands. The blue light flashed intermediately. It had no idea of the great turmoil it was causing in the amateur Jedi.

 _Jedi?_ she scoffed to herself. Could she even call herself that? She hadn't even killed Snoke, Ben had. She hadn't even gotten him to turn like she promised she would. But Master Skywalker said the legend of the Jedi was failure, so maybe she was the Jedi the rebellion needed after all.

"Homing beacon," Kylo stated as he stood in the opened doorway of the sleeping cabin. "Where does it led?"

Rey glanced up at him and took a deep breathe. It would have been foolish to be angry with him for interrupting her private moment, if it even was that. She had left the door opened. Why had she done that?

"My friend has the other half," she informed him softly, trying to hide her sadness that she wasn't with him.

"FN-2187?" Kylo asked.

"Finn," she replied with anger that quickly dissipated. "His name is Finn."

Kylo lowered his head and took a few more steps into the cabin. "The two of you seemed close. I saw that in your eyes in the forest too."

Rey nodded in agreement, despite if feeling strange to talk about Finn with him. Especially since moments after whatever look he was mentioning, he had nearly killed him. "We are. We look after each other and keep each other safe. I wouldn't expect you to understand."

Kylo peered at her sadly for a moment. His face twisted slightly, like he might cry. "I do understand," he replied.

Rey met his brown eyes and caught of glimpse of the boy, who told her she wasn't alone. "You do?"

He silently walked into the room and sat on the bed beside her. She took a moment to run through the location of her weapons.

"I had friends, Rey. I had friends before this all happened," he told her with an air of denigration.

"Be-before the temple," she asked cautiously.

"Before Skywalker attempted to murder me at the temple," he corrected angrily.

"He wasn't trying to-," Rey began eagerly but stopped once he shot her a look of disgust. "I'm sorry. Please continue. So, at the temple then?"

He nodded. "Yes, at the temple. I was excited to be away from my parents, to create my life on my own. Even if it was with the Jedi…with my uncle. Vayron and I became close friends. He was strong with the force. Not as strong as you," he nervously looked away from her and then up again. "But strong."

Rey took a deep breath as she felt filled with a sense of longing and loss that she wasn't sure was entirely hers. "What happened to him?"

"I told him to leave. He followed me. After that night at the temple and for a while afterward. But, the more Snoke called to me the more…dangerous I was becoming to be around. I told Vayron to leave." Kylo hung his head sadly and look at the ground. "And he did."

Rey placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Maybe all wasn't lost. Maybe she could still turn him. Or maybe she could run away from him the moment they touched down.

"All right," she replied seriously.

He peered at her in question.

"I'll go with you to Verdanth," Rey said, filling him with hope.


	3. Chapter 3

The two force users sat quietly in the cockpit of Supreme Leader Snoke's transport craft as it made its descent to Verdanth. Rey kept sneaking quick glances at Kylo. He had noticed but decided not to say anything. He had the foresight to not push his luck. She had agreed to go this far with him. He knew she might change her mind at any moment.

The craft punched through the atmosphere and the surface became visible.

"Wow," Rey softly exclaimed in amazement at the brightly-colored, dense rainforest below them.

Kylo peered over at her, but this time she didn't notice. For a fleeting moment he felt sad for her. She had experienced so little of the universe. And what she had was because of him.

"You're a long way from Jakku," he stated.

She quickly turned to him with a puzzled look on her face. Oddly, he felt the same. He was not sure where that had come from. She seemed to have taken it as a threat of some kind. He didn't mean it like that. He was attempting to be friendly, he realized. It was something he had not tried in a long time.

She gave a small friendly smile and laughed as she turned her glance back to the surface. "Where are we landing?" she asked still sounding amused.

"I know a place that just outside the main settlement," he informed her.

He could sense her hesitation as if she was also worried about pushing her luck. "Are we going to the settlement?"

"We need to find another ship," he answered.

"Right," she replied curtly.

"Huh," he exclaimed softly to himself. He was surprised at her brevity. He assumed he would have to aggressively defend his plan to her, which he was fully prepared to do. He was glad he did not.

"What?" she questioned him in confusion as the craft neared the sparsely populated landing strip.

"Nothing. I anticipated protest," he told her pleased with himself.

"Don't be too cocky," she told him as she got up from her seat. "I'll gather my things," she added as she headed back to the sleeping cabin.

He watched her reflection go and smiled. He smoothly landed the craft on the furthest landing strip.

Kylo waited in the corridor for Rey to return. She walked towards him with Skywalker's saber hanging from her waist and a sleek staff slung across her back. The staff did not look like anything she would ever fight with. He assumed she took it from the armory onboard.

She stopped short and looked him up and down uncertainly. He shot her a questioning look.

"Do you have anything else to wear?" she questioned critically.

He was taken back. It was not the question he expected.

She took a step toward him. "You can't wear that. It shouts that you're from the First Order."

"What does your outfit say then?" he shot back defensively.

She peered down and then rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Desert scavenger? I don't know, but it doesn't look so suspicious."

"Well, what do you suggest?" he asked, growing more and more annoyed. He didn't like being on this world. It was too close to the Rebellion. He could see the blue light flashing on Rey's beacon and it filled him with anger and hatred.

She grunted and took a step away from him. "Stop that," she told him. "Just take the top layer off or something."

He nodded and began to remove it.

She quickly diverted her eyes. "You do have something on underneath that, right?"

He laughed at her embarrassment and modesty. "Yes," he told her. He readjusted his white shirt that was tucked into his black pants.

"Good," Rey answered quickly. "Let's go then and try not to get instantly recognized."

They exited the craft. There was no one around to question where they had come from or how long their craft would be occupying that landing strip. They headed down the road toward the settlement. Kylo was leading them to where he remembered the trading post to be. It was large enough for there to be just the ship he needed.

He glanced over at Rey. She was casually peering around them and seemed to be scanning every store front, cart, and living creature they passed.

"Why are you so anxious?" he asked, feeling a bit of it himself.

Rey peered at him and raised her eyebrows in confusion. She peered around cautiously and then whispered, "we killed Snoke. Will the First Order not be looking for us everywhere?"

He shook his head. "They are broken without their leader."

"I've been on the receiving end of a First Order search party before. You might underestimate them but I'm not going to," she admitted.

He felt her fear and dread. He imagined she was feeling the same when he found her in the woods of Takodana.

He nodded in understanding as they reached the trading post. He peered around at the ships and laid his eyes on one. He walked over and stood before it. She stood beside him and stared up at it quizzically.

"Could you fly it?" he questioned her though he already knew the answer. He knew she could not be doubted in that department.

"Could you?" she asked with a smile.

He did not answer but feel silent. She exhaled nervously. They meet eyes. He felt it again. The intense connection had made the fight in Snoke's throne room so exhilarating. It coursed through him like fire. The force. He could feel it. He could feel it like he never had before.

He did not need to say it. He barely needed to think it. They had been spotted. Somebody behind them was in the process of calling whatever the local authority was. Whoever it was started shouting at them, but it did not seem to matter and Kylo didn't take notice.

He reached for the blaster in his waistline and she sprinted up the ramp and into the ship. He started shooting at the men shouting at them.

Small world fools, he thought. They didn't even appear to the armed. They twisted violently and hit the ground as the blasts burned through the chests'. Kylo backed up onto the ramp as he heard the ship power on. He continued to fire as it hovered above the ground and prepared for takeover. Once it left the ground, he went inside and hit the control to close the door.

"We have company!" Rey yelled back to him before they had reached the clouds.

The ship swerved violently and rattled as if it had been hit.

"Get up here! I need a gunner!"

The ship rolled much too far to the left.

Kylo clambered into the cockpit and leaned over the back of the pilot's chair. "Punch it to the Outer Rim," he demanded of Rey.

"Outer Rim?" she exclaimed confused as she continued to steer the ship through the surprising number of other ships in the sky. Those that were armed had remarkably good aim.

"Yes! Unless you want to get shot out of the sky!" he yelled as he took control of the weapon's system and started firing back at the local ships.

"I can't go to the Outer Rim with you!" she declared with another swerve of the controls. "The transports, the Rebel fleet. They need our help."

He clenched his teeth as the wing of the ship he was shooting at exploded. It spun out toward the surface.

"Forget about the Rebellion. It doesn't matter. You don't matter to it. Not like you matter to me!" he screamed as the ship rattled from another hit.

"What?!" Rey blurted in utter shock as she snapped around to look at him.

The ship clattered with another hit and Rey was forced to turn her attention back to the controls.

"Please, Rey. Leave it behind, leave it with me," he told her.

She began breathing heavily. Kylo could see and feel that it wasn't only from the high stress flying. The emotions were too intense. He did not mean to say that. He had barely admitted to himself that he felt that way. There was fear for a moment that they were going to die. It had to be Rey's thought. Kylo was not afraid of death from this altercation.

Just then the ship was thrown vigorously through the air. The smell of smoke and gasoline filled the cockpit. They were going down. They both knew it. They locked eyes.

"Eject," Rey instructed desperately.

He wasn't sure if she was talking to him or herself.

"Find me when you land," he asked of her.

There was another explosion before she could answer, and their stolen ship broke apart as it plummeted to the ground.


	4. Chapter 4

Rey awoke coughing, coughing so violently it felt like her chest was going to explode. She struggled to turn over, maybe laying on her side would be less painful. She couldn't know but it had to be less painful than this. The ground was mossy and wet on her shoulder. She couldn't feel it before. She couldn't feel it when she was on her back. She coughed and struggled for breath. The ground was so beautiful. It never looked like this on Jakku. She wished so deeply that she could just sit and looked at it, maybe by herself, maybe with Finn, maybe with Ben.

"Ben?" she uttered weakly as she collapsed face first into the wet, mossy ground.

"Rey!" he had called desperately as he watched her eject from the ship amid a fireball of destruction. Just before he had admitted almost everything to the infuriating girl from that junk yard world. He did not think he would regret anything more in his entire life.

" _Oh really, kid? That's your biggest regret? Telling some girl how you feel? Thanks for the compliment. Your mother would be proud. Also, I don't think she's all that interested in you."_

"Get out," he muttered at the voice as he awoke, his limbs and parachute entangled with a tree branch somewhere in the Verdanth rainforest.

He slowly pulled himself up and untangled the parachute and tossed it onto the forest floor.

"Rey?" he said, slowly closing his eyes. "Please. Show yourself to me." He drove deep into the force, into the connective power of the universe. Between all living things on this world, between all worlds, and between him and Rey.

He saw her laying helplessly on the ground. She almost looked weak and fragile. He had never thought of her like that before.

"Rey?" he repeated as he jumped down from the tree branch. He started running toward her. He could see her, but she couldn't tell where she was. The entire rainforest looked the same to him. But he could feel himself growing closer to her.

Rey felt the damp from the soil seeping into her forehead. For a moment, that was stronger than her connection to Kylo and the force. It was just so overwhelming and so cold, and she couldn't get her body to stop shaking from it. She placed the palms of her hands on the ground, closed her eyes, and took a deep calming breathe.

She could do this. She could feel the life in the universe and she could draw on its energy to heal herself. She wasn't even sure how she was injured, everything was just so painful.

"Rey!" Kylo shouted as he saw her, actually saw her laying face down on the forest ground. Something about the curvature of her shoulders, the position of her legs made he realize she was more injured than he could have ever imagined. He ran to her and placed his hands on her back. She didn't even flinch, which worried him even more. He squeezed his eyes shut and called out to the force with all his strength.

"No," she weakly and desperately called up at him. "Let me do it."

He peered down at her. She looked broken, too broken. "You can't do this alone."

She pressed her hands harder into the mossy, wet ground. "Let me for as much as I can. It wouldn't hurt me, like it will you."

Kylo held his hands on her shoulder blades but it wasn't anything more than touch. He did not understand what she meant but she sounded serious.

After a few minutes of little grunting and wincing, she started to scream in pain. She screamed like she had when Snoke pulled information from her. He couldn't handle it anymore. He moved his hands down until they touched her exposed skin and extracted energy from the force more than he ever had before. She started to scream in a different, less painfully sounding way. He grunted violently through his clenched teeth. It felt like he was being ripped apart, but he didn't care. He needed to save her. He only wanted to save her.

"Rey," Kylo muttered softly as he slowly awoke. He felt slightly nervous. Everything smelt different and felt different from the last thing he remembered. "Rey," he muttered again.

He felt sunlight beaming down on his face. He opened his eyes and saw it was coming through the slates of glossy looking wood that made up the roof of whatever dwelling he was in. He sat up from the cot he was on. He had pushed the blankets off himself. He peered at them crumpled at the foot of the cot. Rey must have done that. She must have put him here. The last thing he remembered was trying to heal in the Verdanth rainforest.

The dwelling was small, just the cot and a rickety looking table and chairs. The whole thing was made of wood. Vines and plant life coming in at a few places. Water dripped through the slates in the roof. It had to be on Verdanth. Kylo was not sure how he felt about that. He had not thought about where he would wake up. He had not thought about much of anything. Rey had to know. That must be why she was not there.

He heard a loud crack from what sounded like a fire. When he looked closely, he could see the glimmer of a fire coming from outside the thin wooden door. It did not properly fit inside the doorframe. He stood off his cot and walked toward it.

Rey sat crossed legged with her hands placed on her knees near the small fire. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was slow and steady. She was at peace with the force. It felt…well truly she didn't know how it felt. It could have been new and different, but it wasn't. It felt like it always had, maybe just more open. And lighter. It felt so much lighter. She had touched the darkness just once and nearly scared Master Skywalker away forever. She could understand why he was so scared. She hadn't felt the force then, not like this.

She felt a slight disturbance and opened her eyes.

"Ben," she replied at him pleased as she got to her feet with only a slight struggle.

He didn't say anything for moment. He just stared at her with a mixture of confusion and that sad look like he might cry.

"I didn't expect you to wake up so soon," Rey stated to fill the silence. "Are you feeling alright?"

"You didn't leave," he replied matter-a-factly.

"No…I," Rey shook her head nervously. "I was worried," she admitted.

"Why?" he demanded of her.

Rey raised an eyebrow at him. "You helped heal me."

He shook his head and took a step toward her. She didn't step back. That still felt new. "No," he pointed out. He knew she was hiding something. "There is something else."

Rey attempted to be coy but then shook her head and sighed. "Fine," she answered. "I didn't get a chance to read that much but using the force for healing can be…dangerous for dark force users."

"That's why you said that," he connected. "That it would hurt me more than you."

"Yes," she said, motioning toward him. He could feel her excitement rising. "But, it didn't. Because you didn't. You didn't use the dark side. You used the force. The light part of the force." She was smiling and had taken a few steps toward him. "I don't know how you did it, but you did."

He was quiet. He had not thought about how. He only knew why.

Rey walked toward him and took his hand. She led him closer to the fire. "I believe you can do it again. Do you want to try?"

She was about to sit on the ground again but stop when she sensed his hesitation. The awkward motion seemed to hurt her back and shoulders, but she attempted to hide her discomfort. To her credit, he could only feel it, not see it.

"What do you want me to do?" Kylo asked.

They were standing, facing each other with the fire blazing beside them in the damp rainforest, illuminated by the setting sun.

"Nothing," she stated simply and slyly as she sat down. "Just sit here with me."

He obeyed and sat in front of her. She held out her hands to him. He took them. She closed her eyes. He stared at her. He was not sure what to make of any of this. She had not mentioned his confession on the stolen ship. She had not even thanked him for healing her, not really. He would be angry with her if he was not so relieved that she was still there.

"Just focus on the force, Ben," she instructed him. It with an air of condensation, like she could hear everything he was thinking.

He did as she said.


End file.
